Shloka 9

च्यवन-यज्ञे अश्विनोः सोमग्रहण-विवादः

Cyavana’s Sacrifice and the Aśvins’ Soma Dispute

Devanagari script

इन्द्र उवाच उभावेतौ न सोमार्हौ नासत्याविति मे मति: । भिषजोौ दिवि देवानां कर्मणा तेन नाहत:,इन्द्र बोले--मुने! मेरा यह सिद्धान्त है कि ये दोनों अश्विनीकुमार यज्ञमें सोमपानके अधिकारी नहीं हैं; क्योंकि ये द्युलोकनिवासी देवताओंके वैद्य हैं और उस वैद्यवृत्तिके कारण ही इन्हें यज्ञमें सोमपानका अधिकार नहीं रह गया है

Transliteration

indra uvāca: ubhāv etau na somārhau nāsatyāv iti me matiḥ | bhiṣajau divi devānāṁ karmaṇā tena nāhataḥ ||

Translation

Indra said: “In my considered judgment, these two Nāsatyas (the Aśvin twins) are not entitled to drink the Soma in a sacrifice. For they serve as physicians to the gods in heaven; and because of that professional activity, their eligibility for Soma in the rite is, in my view, impaired.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'ubhāv etau', 'definition': 'these two (persons)'}, {'term': 'somārhau', 'definition': 'worthy/eligible for Soma (i.e., entitled to Soma-drinking in a yajña)'}, {'term': 'nāsatyau', 'definition': 'the Nāsatyas

• a name of the Aśvin twins'}, {'term': 'me matiḥ', 'definition': 'my opinion

• my settled view'}, {'term': 'bhiṣajau', 'definition': 'the two physicians (dual)

• healers'}, {'term': 'divi', 'definition': 'in heaven

• in the celestial realm'}, {'term': 'devānām', 'definition': 'of the gods'}, {'term': 'karmaṇā', 'definition': 'by (their) action/occupation

• by the work they do'}, {'term': 'tena', 'definition': 'therefore

• by that (reason)'}, {'term': 'nāhataḥ', 'definition': 'not struck down / not removed (i.e., the disqualification is not negated)

• contextually: their ineligibility is not annulled'}]

Speaker

इन्द्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Indra
• Aśvinīkumāras (Nāsatyas)
• Soma
• Devas (gods)
• Heaven (Divi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a ritual-ethical debate: eligibility for sacred privileges (like Soma-drinking) is argued to depend not only on status but also on one’s occupational role and perceived ritual purity. Indra frames the Aśvins’ medical service as a reason for exclusion, raising questions about how profession and purity norms shape access to religious rites.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra states his position in a dispute about whether the Aśvin twins may partake of Soma in a sacrifice. He argues they should be barred because they function as the gods’ physicians in heaven, and that role, in his view, disqualifies them from Soma participation.